Time Resolved Spectroscopy Of Cataclysmic Variables - SS Cygni

NSF AST76-23882, AST 79-06340McDonald Observator

Endophytic Agrobacterium in crown gall-resistant and -susceptible Vitis genotypes

Several methods were used to study endophytic colonization of Vitis genotypes by Agrobacterium vitis (AV). AV was seldom detected except at inoculated sites, indicating little systemic movement of the bacterium under the conditions of these experiments. AV populations at inoculated sites were evaluated for 10 months following inoculation of crown gall-resistant and -susceptible genotypes. Two months after inoculation, V. amurensis selections had significantly smaller populations than V. vinifera (Cabernet Sauvignon) or V. riparia x V. rupestris (C3309). All crown gall-resistant genotypes had significantly lower populations than Cabernet Sauvignon 10 months after inoculation. Examination of vines one year after inoculation indicated that AV populations were much higher at inoculated sites when crown galls developed. However, even when no galls were apparent, Cabernet Sauvignon had significantly higher AV populations than V. amurensis 689 (6-fold higher) and C3309 (70-fold higher). Crown gall-resistant genotypes appear to support lower populations of AV than the crow gall-susceptible Cabernet Sauvignon. Freezing followed by a two-day incubation significantly increased recovery of Agrobacterium using vascular fluid displacement in naturally-infected and artifically-inoculated vines and therefore increased the sensitivity of indexing for AV in grapevines

Transformation of crown gall resistant and susceptible Vitis genotypes by Agrobacterium vitis

Transformation of crown gall-susceptible and -resistant Vitis genotypes by Agrobacterium vitis strain CG49 was studied using uidA (GUS) in the p35SGUSINT construct. When greenhouse-grown material propagated through tissue culture was inoculated with CG49(p35SGUSINT) in vitro, the highly crown gall-susceptible V. vinifera Cabernet Sauvignon displayed GUS activity on 53 % of inoculated explants vs. 5 % for the resistant V. amurensis and 0 % for the resistant Couderc 3309. Response of Cabernet Sauvignon suggested a strong effect of shoot polarity on transformation. Inoculation of basal vs. apical explant surface in Cabernet Sauvignon indicated transformation in 88 % of basal inoculated explants with no transformation from apical inoculation. Basal inoculations indicated no transformation of V. amurensis and transformation in 10 % of Couderc 3309 explants. Inoculation of intact plants with CG49(p35SGUSINT) produced GUS-positive sites at 56 % of inoculated sites in Cabernet Sauvignon, 10 % of V. amurensis inoculated sites and 9 % of Couderc 3309 inoculated sites. Resistance to crown gall in these genotypes appears to be due to reduced susceptibility to transformation by A. vitis rather than post-transformation phenomena. These studies were complicated by production of GUS-positive spots from in vitro inoculations using wild-type CG49. Resident microorganisms producing b-glucuronidase may proliferate after tissue degradation by A. vitis-induced cell disruption. Use of in vitro internodal explants from tissue culture-propagated vines greatly reduced GUS expression from control CG49 inoculations and these were readily distinguished (by appearance and location) from GUS-positive spots resulting from transformation with uidA

Agricultural scene understanding and supporting field research, volume 1

There are no author-identified significant results in this report

Asteroseismological Observations of the Central Star of the Planetary Nebula NGC 1501

We report on a global CCD time-series photometric campaign to decode the pulsations of the nucleus of the planetary nebula NGC1501. The star is hot and hydrogen-deficient, similar to the pre-white-dwarf PG 1159 stars. NGC1501 shows pulsational brightness variations of a few percent with periods ranging from 19 to 87 minutes. The variations are very complex, suggesting a pulsation spectrum that requires a long unbroken time series to resolve. Our CCD photometry of the star covers a two-week period in 1991 November, and used a global network of observatories. We obtained nearly continuous coverage over an interval of one week in the middle of the run. We have identified 10 pulsation periods, ranging from 5235 s down to 1154 s. We find strong evidence that the modes are indeed nonradial g-modes. The ratios of the frequencies of the largest-amplitude modes agree with those expected for modes that are trapped by a density discontinuity in the outer layers. We offer a model for the pulsation spectrum that includes a common period spacing of 22.3 s and a rotation period of 1.17 days; the period spacing allows us to assign a seismological mass of 0.55+/-0.03 Msun.Comment: 12 pages, AASTEX, 7 tables, 6 EPS figures, to appear in AJ, 12/96 Corrected version repairs table formatting and adds missing Table

Connecting Contemporary Trauma Care to Florence Nightingale\u27s Visionary Work

The impact of Florence Nightingale\u27s visionary work continues to influence the delivery of nursing care in the contemporary emergency department (ED). Her foundational work in the Crimean War resulted in data-based recommendations for using the environment to promote healing and wellness among sick and wounded British soldiers. She advocated for attention to environmental details, including ventilation, air, warmth, drainage, cleanliness, natural light, and low noise levels. These important environmental concepts play a significant role in the nursing management of trauma patients in today\u27s ED. This article features an application of Nightingale\u27s environmental concepts to a trauma patient case exemplar and demonstrates the enduring impact of her work for trauma patients who receive care in the ED

The Spectrum projection package: improvements in estimating incidence by age and sex, mother-to-child transmission, HIV progression in children and double orphans

BACKGROUND: The Spectrum program is used to estimate key HIV indicators from the trends in incidence and prevalence estimated by the Estimation and Projection Package or the Workbook. These indicators include the number of people living with HIV, new infections, AIDS deaths, AIDS orphans, the number of adults and children needing treatment, the need for prevention of mother-to-child transmission and the impact of antiretroviral treatment on survival. The UNAIDS Reference Group on Estimates, Models and Projections regularly reviews new data and information needs, and recommends updates to the methodology and assumptions used in Spectrum. METHODS: The latest update to Spectrum was used in the 2009 round of global estimates. This update contains new procedures for estimating: the age and sex distribution of adult incidence, new child infections occurring around delivery or through breastfeeding, the survival of children by timing of infection and the number of double orphans

Estimating HIV Incidence among Adults in Kenya and Uganda: A Systematic Comparison of Multiple Methods

CITATION: Kim, A. A. et al. 2011. Estimating HIV incidence among adults in Kenya and Uganda : a systematic comparison of multiple methods. PLos ONE, 6(3): e17535, doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0017535.The original publication is available at http://journals.plos.org/plosoneBackground: Several approaches have been used for measuring HIV incidence in large areas, yet each presents specific challenges in incidence estimation. Methodology/Principal Findings: We present a comparison of incidence estimates for Kenya and Uganda using multiple methods: 1) Epidemic Projections Package (EPP) and Spectrum models fitted to HIV prevalence from antenatal clinics (ANC) and national population-based surveys (NPS) in Kenya (2003, 2007) and Uganda (2004/2005); 2) a survey-derived model to infer age-specific incidence between two sequential NPS; 3) an assay-derived measurement in NPS using the BED IgG capture enzyme immunoassay, adjusted for misclassification using a locally derived false-recent rate (FRR) for the assay; (4) community cohorts in Uganda; (5) prevalence trends in young ANC attendees. EPP/Spectrum-derived and survey-derived modeled estimates were similar: 0.67 [uncertainty range: 0.60, 0.74] and 0.6 [confidence interval: (CI) 0.4, 0.9], respectively, for Uganda (2005) and 0.72 [uncertainty range: 0.70, 0.74] and 0.7 [CI 0.3, 1.1], respectively, for Kenya (2007). Using a local FRR, assay-derived incidence estimates were 0.3 [CI 0.0, 0.9] for Uganda (2004/2005) and 0.6 [CI 0, 1.3] for Kenya (2007). Incidence trends were similar for all methods for both Uganda and Kenya. Conclusions/Significance: Triangulation of methods is recommended to determine best-supported estimates of incidence to guide programs. Assay-derived incidence estimates are sensitive to the level of the assay's FRR, and uncertainty around high FRRs can significantly impact the validity of the estimate. Systematic evaluations of new and existing incidence assays are needed to the study the level, distribution, and determinants of the FRR to guide whether incidence assays can produce reliable estimates of national HIV incidence.http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0017535Publisher's versio

Improving estimates of children living with HIV from the Spectrum AIDS Impact Model

Objective: Estimated numbers of children living with HIV determine programmatic and treatment needs. We explain the changes made to the UNAIDS estimates between 2015 and 2016, and describe the challenges around these estimates. Methods: Estimates of children newly infected, living with HIV, and dying of AIDS are developed by country teams using Spectrum software. Spectrum files are available for 160 countries, which represent 98% of the global population. In 2016, the methods were updated to reflect the latest evidence on mother-to-child HIV transmission and improved assumptions on the age children initiate antiretroviral therapy. We report updated results using the 2016 model and validate these estimates against mother-to-child transmission rates and HIV prevalence from population-based surveys for the survey year. Results: The revised 2016 model estimates 27% fewer children living with HIV in 2014 than the 2015 model, primarily due to changes in the probability of mother-to-child transmission among women with incident HIV during pregnancy. The revised estimates were consistent with population-based surveys of HIV transmission and HIV prevalence among children aged 5–9 years, but were lower than surveys among children aged 10–14 years. Conclusions: The revised 2016 model is an improvement on previous models. Paediatric HIV models will continue to evolve as further improvements are made to the assumptions. Commodities forecasting and programme planning rely on these estimates, and increasing accuracy will be critical to enable effective scale-up and optimal use of resources. Efforts are needed to improve empirical measures of HIV prevalence, incidence, and mortality among children

Embracing different approaches to estimating HIV incidence, prevalence and mortality

Background: Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) and Murray et al. have both produced sets of estimates for worldwide HIV incidence, prevalence and mortality. Understanding differences in these estimates can strengthen the interpretation of each